This disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus, and more specifically to a technology of notifying an accurate scheduled job end time.
An image forming apparatus such as a printer or a multifunction peripheral is connected to a plurality of computers via a network such as a LAN, and can be shared by the plurality of computers. In such an image forming apparatus, jobs are transmitted from the plurality of computers at a time in a concentrated manner in some cases, in which cases the jobs get stacked and much time is required until end of printing for the job finally received. As a result, even when a user who has transmitted the final job goes to the image forming apparatus to take a printed material, he or she has to wait until completion of print processing of the jobs of other users.
Known as such a technology is, for example, a job management technology of, in a printing system where a plurality of printing devices (corresponding to image forming apparatuses) and a higher-level device such as a computer are connected through a network, constantly calculating a period until completion of a job in execution or on standby in each printing device and transmitting, to the higher-level device, a print completion time based on results of the this calculation.